Thursday 8 December, 10:00 AM GMT (Thomson Financial): Asian markets ended
lower following falls on Wall Street, which led investors to take profits.
Japan's market suffered from heavy selling pressure on profit taking and
reports of a botched trade by a broker, while Hong Kong's market fell as
investors elected to lock in profits. Meanwhile, the Korean bourse
outperformed the region to close flat, while Taiwan's market fell on
weakness in financial stocks. Finally, the market in Australia fell on
profit taking.
Tokyo's Nikkei-225 Index plummeted by 301.30 points or 1.95% to 15183.36,
while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Stock Index plunged by 255.79 points or 1.69%
to 14879.16. Korea's Kospi Index eased by 0.55 points or 0.04% to 1324.20,
while Taiwan's Weighted Index dropped by 80.33 points or 1.27% to 6249.19.
Australia's All Ordinaries Index fell by 44.70 points or 0.98% to 4531.60.
Japan's market suffered a large sell off to close sharply lower as
investors initially took the lead from falls on Wall Street overnight,
which triggered profit taking and then, rumors of a massive mistake in
executing a sell order for J-Com, which had its IPO, further spooked
investors. Brokerage Houses fell heavily on the rumor, with banks also
suffering, while technology stocks failed to avoid broad based losses.
The rumor that someone inadvertently placed a sell order for 600,000
J-Com shares for 1 yen, instead of 1 share for 600,000 yen, sparked
rumors of an enormous loss for the guilty party and sector stocks plunged
accordingly, with Nikko Cordial, Nomura Holdings and Daiwa Securities all
closing sharply lower. Banks also endured weighty drops, with Mitsubishi
UFJ, Mizuho and Sumitomo Mitsui all ending deeply in the red.
In the technology sector, chip makers slumped, with Fujitsu and NEC
falling, while consumer electronics shares slipped, with Matsushita
Electric, Sony and Pioneer all down. The one bright spot in the market was
Sanyo Electronics, which rose on reports that a leading investment bank
may take a stake in the firm's financial unit, Sanyo Electric Credit,
which surged on the news.
Hong Kong's market closed sharply lower as investors locked in profits
from gains the previous day and amid caution owing to fears of protests at
next week's World Trade Organization summit. Property stocks dipped, with
Cheung Kong Holdings, Wharf Holdings and Hang Lung Properties leading the
falls, while banking stocks lost ground, with HSBC Holdings and BOC Hong
Kong notable losers. Elsewhere, China related stocks suffered some large
drops, with China Mobile, China Unicom and China Resources all sliding
sharply.
In Korea, the key share index closed little changed but off intraday lows,
with the surprise 25 basis point rate hike from the Bank of Korea and
triple witching having little impact on the market. Technology stocks
tracked losses in their U.S. counterparts, with Samsung Electronics and LG
Electronics ending the session lower, although Hynix Semiconductor
remained flat. Elsewhere, Hyundai Motors reversed from recent strength,
with Kia Motor also skidding, while banks were also mostly lower.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's market fell on lingering concerns in the financial
sector that attempts by legislators to limit interest rate charges on debt
will hit the earnings of banks. Chinatrust Financial, which owns Taiwan's
largest credit card issuer in terms of customers, plummeted, while the
largest cash card issuer in terms of loans, Taishin Financial, plunged.
These large falls sparked profit taking in the technology sector, with
TSMC, UMC and Nanya Technology all closing lower.
Finally, the market in Australia ended lower following the falls on Wall
Street overnight as investors sold resources stocks and banks. Falls in
heavyweights BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto weighed on the market, with oil
stocks Woodside Petroleum and Santos also slipping, however gold miners,
Lihir Gold and Newcrest Mining rose on strength in the price of the
precious metal. Banks came under pressure after the release of
stronger-than-expected employment data raised fears of interest rate
rises, with National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank and Westpac all
softening.
Ian.Littlewood@thomson.com; Thomson Financial
This is Thomson Financial Corporate Services Asia Market Commentary. The
information herein is believed to be true and accurate. If you have any
questions please e-mail James Sang at James.Sang@tfn.com. We take no
responsibility for inaccurate information and reserve the right to update
our reports. For more information about Thomson Financial visit us
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SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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